A teen suspect was arrested in connection with the shooting of Javits Frimpong, a 15-year-old from Ghana who was killed on his way to school in the Bronx last month.
Detectives picked up the 17-year-old male suspect Wednesday morning and took him to the 42nd Precinct for questioning, according to the New York Police Department.
The suspect has been charged with murder, the NYPD said.
“The NYPD will be relentless in our efforts to get dangerous people out of our communities, especially when it involves the murder of a 15-year-old boy,” the department said on X Wednesday.
Doris Gyamfi, Javits’ mother, who travelled from Ghana to mourn her son’s death, broke down sobbing as she spoke at a press conference on Wednesday.
“I need justice for my child,” Gyamfi said. “That’s all, I have only one child.”
Thomas Frimpong, Javits’ father, said he was happy to learn that someone was charged in his son’s death. He was also very emotional at the press conference on Wednesday.
“I brought Javits from Ghana to continue his education here in the United States… He was very, very, very excited,” Thomas Frimpong said. “Unfortunately, on the 29th day of October, I was at work when I heard that my son had been shot.”
In a statement released to ABC News, the NYPD said that Javits was shot in the stomach near Crotona Park on Oct. 29. Officers transported him to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Surveillance video of the incident shows a person wearing a black sweatsuit and mask running from the scene.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny told ABC News last week that the incident was a “senseless act of violence.”
“All indications are that this was a good kid,” Kenny said about Javits.
He said that the police are also investigating whether bullying contributed to the incident. Javits’ family said at the press conference that he told them he was being bullied at DreamYard Preparatory School where he attended.
“We’re looking at the possibility that the child was being bullied at school,” Kenny said. “We’re working with the [New York City Public Schools] Department of Education to verify that.”
“We will continue to work with the NYPD as this investigation proceeds,” an NYC Public Schools spokesperson told ABC News last week.
DreamYard Preparatory School did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Attorney Ben Crump, the family’s lawyer, said that the suspect should be held accountable for the teen’s death at the press conference on Wednesday.
“We want these, apparently, kids who murdered Javits to be held fully accountable under the law, because that is equal justice,” Crump said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that he was told by President Donald Trump that Javits’ mother was granted a visa to travel to the U.S. for his funeral, according to a statement he released on X.
“The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away,” Mamdani emphasized. “All of New York City is mourning this tragedy.”
In honor of Javits, a rally was held in the Bronx on Saturday with hundreds of people in attendance. Speakers discussed communal unity in the wake of the teen’s death and mourned his passing.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
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